


Along An Ocean Avenue

by silver_etoile



Category: SKAM (Netherlands), WTFock | Skam (Belgium)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Beach Holidays, Day At The Beach, Fluff, M/M, vdsweek2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25823308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_etoile/pseuds/silver_etoile
Summary: Vacation at the beach isn't everything Lucas has ever wanted, but ditching his friends to hang out with the naked guy he found in the showers could make things more interesting.
Relationships: Jens Stoffels/Lucas van der Heijden
Comments: 5
Kudos: 95





	Along An Ocean Avenue

The sun beat down on Lucas’ skin, searing even behind his sunglasses, and he cracked open an eye at the droplets of water cold on his arm.

Kes tossed the towel aside, shaking the water from his hair as Lucas grimaced.

“Watch it,” he said, and Kes rolled his eyes.

“Come on, bro. You’re not going to spend the whole trip laying on the beach just so you can check out hot guys, are you?”

Lucas was glad he was wearing his sunglasses and Kes couldn’t see how he rolled his eyes this time, pushing himself up from the towel.

“I am not,” he argued, and Kes snorted as though he didn’t believe him at all.

“You’re so transparent, Luc.”

“Fuck you,” Lucas responded, annoyed. The guys had practically dragged him to the beach this week. He still didn’t understand why they had to go to some over-priced hotel just so that the guys could oggle girls and Lucas could roll his eyes at their awkward attempts to hook up. They could have just gone to the lake house, where it was free to stay.

But there were no girls there, Jayden had pointed out. Not that Lucas cared at all about girls. The only good thing about the beach was the hot guys in swim shorts, tanned skin and water dripping down ripped abs. If he was forced to be here, he would at least enjoy the view.

“Fuck, that water’s cold,” Jayden said as he ran up, grabbing the towel Kes had discarded and rubbing the water off his shoulders. “Aren’t you gonna go in, Luc?”

“That would ruin his beach aesthetic,” Kes teased, and Lucas tossed him a glare Kes couldn’t see from behind his sunglasses. “Besides, I want to go check out that record store we passed down the boardwalk.”

“I thought you said we weren’t going to any stores?” Lucas asked, sitting up and brushing sand off his legs. “You didn’t want to go to that art place.”

“Bro, art’s boring,” Jayden said, rolling his eyes. “Girls want hot guys with good music taste.”

Lucas scowled. “You never want to go places I do,” he said as he stood up, brushing sand off his shorts. Despite the fact that he hadn’t been in the water, he was still covered in sand.

“That’s because you want to go to boring places,” Jayden said, and before Lucas could open his mouth to argue, Kes stepped in.

“Come on, let’s go to the record place,” he said, sliding an arm over Lucas’ shoulder. “I’ll buy you ice cream on the way.”

Frowning, Lucas wasn’t totally appeased, but it was either that or sit here alone on the beach like a loser.

“Fine, but I need to wash off this sand first.”

“Who cares about sand?” Jayden said with a shrug. “You’re so weird about being clean, bro. You’re never going to get rid of it.”

“Some of us prefer to at least try to be hygenic,” Lucas said, annoyed, and Kes gave him a little shove.

“It doesn’t matter. Look, there’s a public shower right there. Go rinse off and we’ll meet you at the store.”

Glancing over at the little concrete building, Lucas wasn’t impressed by the facility. He’d rather go back to the hotel, but he knew the guys would just balk at that suggestion. “Fine.”

It wasn’t that Lucas hadn’t known what he was getting into, going on vacation with Kes and Jayden. After all, he’d known Kes practically his whole life, and he also knew that Jayden could be an asshole when it came to other people, but Lucas would at least have liked to do what he wanted on vacation. And that wasn’t all just lounging around on the beach, getting tan, listening to Jayden’s running commentary on the girls who passed by in tiny bikinis or their constant pressure to get him in the water when he was perfectly content reading or listening to music on the beach.

As Kes and Jayden gathered their things and headed in the opposite direction, Lucas approached the showers, jerking out of the way as a couple of guys came bursting out the door, seemingly trying (and failing) not to laugh as though they’d just done something particularly funny. Lucas barely glanced after them as he stepped inside to the row of showers, each hung with a sad-looking curtain, some with no curtain at all.

Stepping into one of the curtain-less stalls, Lucas turned on the water to rinse off his legs, hearing the water shut off in another stall a few over.

“Shit.”

Over the water, Lucas heard the curse, and he turned off his shower with a squeak as a curtain flew open.

“Very funny, guys,” came a voice around the corner, and Lucas poked his head out to see. “A classic. Now, where are my clothes?”

Lucas’ eyes widened as he came face to face with a very naked guy. The guy blinked for a second before quickly covering himself and not looking nearly as embarrassed as Lucas might have been in the same situation.

“I don’t suppose you know where my clothes went?” the guy asked as Lucas stared, caught off-guard by how ridiculously handsome this guy was, clothes or no, and he very carefully kept his gaze from dropping down his chest, the beads of water still on his golden skin, dark hair wet from the shower.

“Not really,” Lucas managed to say finally, and the guy sighed, shifting his weight, hands still covering himself as he frowned.

“I bet they’re just waiting for me to have to come outside like this. I bet they’ll even be recording.”

Lucas had idea what that meant and he paused. It wasn’t every day that he ran into a really hot, naked guy in a public shower.

“You could go out the back,” he said, nodding at the door on the other side of the shower, and the guy twisted to look. For a second, Lucas let his gaze drop to the guy’s shoulders, the strain in his muscles as he turned, sliding down to his waist, but he jerked his eyes back up when the guy turned back.

“Still have the problem of being naked,” he pointed out. “Which isn’t that embarrassing until some old lady or kid sees you.”

“I’m not embarrassing you?” Lucas asked curiously. He would have been mortified to find himself without clothes and no way to get any, especially when faced with a guy this good-looking.

To his surprise, the guy smiled, and Lucas wasn’t sure he imagined the way his eyes darted down him, as though checking him out. “There could be far worse people to find me like this.”

“You know,” Lucas said after a second, not sure if he even should, but the guy’s smile was so easy, so charming, it made Lucas want to. “There’s a souvenir store nearby. I’m sure they have clothes.”

The guy’s eyebrow went up as Lucas said it, as though both surprised and pleased. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to help a stranger out?”

Lucas shrugged. “I could be persuaded,” he admitted with an easy smile. “It would get back at your friends,” he pointed out, “if you just disappeared from here, presumably naked, and maybe didn’t come back for a little while.”

The guy paused thoughtfully, smirking at Lucas. “They took my wallet, and my phone.”

“I have both,” Lucas offered, feeling bold considering he didn’t even know this guy’s name. Maybe it would serve his own friends right if he disappeared for a few hours to do his own thing.

“Sounds like a devious plan to me,” the guy said, but he was grinning now, and Lucas took it as a good sign. “I’m in if you are.”

Lucas couldn’t believe he was doing this, that he’d even suggested it, but time away from the guys and their constant needling sounded great, especially if it meant hanging out with a very good-looking guy his own age who was smiling at him like that.

“Let’s do it.”

*

“I’m Jens, by the way,” the guy said as he stepped out of the stall, gazing doubtfully at the shirt clinging to his stomach, painted with a watercolor sunset, and the yellow shorts patterned with pineapples. Lucas had guessed on the sizes, and honestly, he just liked the pineapples, and more importantly, he liked how Jens looked in them as they snuck out the back door.

Jens’ friends weren’t there, as predicted, and they skirted around the building, blending into the crowd mulling down the boardwalk.

“Lucas,” he said finally as they headed aimlessly down the beach.

“So, Lucas,” Jens said, glancing over, giving up trying to pull the shirt down. “Surely, you’re here with somebody. Why were you so willing to ditch them to hang out with me?”

“Same reason you’re ditching your friends?” Lucas replied, and Jens smiled. 

“They’re assholes?”

Lucas made a face, swinging his arms as they walked. “Not exactly. But all they want to do is go swimming and check out girls and do whatever they want to do.”

“Which isn’t what you want to do,” Jens finished for him, and Lucas shrugged.

“I don’t mind going to the beach or record stores or wherever. But it would be nice to do something I want to do.”

Jens nodded understandingly, sweeping his hair from his eyes. It was dry by now, looking soft and touchable as it moved in the breeze.

“What do you want to do?” he asked then. “’Cause it looks like I’ve got a few hours to freak out my friends before they report me missing.”

Lucas glanced at Jens, wondering just how sincere he was. “Well, there is this art store I’ve been dying to go in.”

“Art store?” Jens repeated curiously, brushing sand off the boardwalk in front of him with his sandal. 

“They’re supposed to have really cool paint,” Lucas said, hesitating as he realized how lame that sounded. He probably should have been suggesting going para-sailing or something cool, not going to stare at paints he probably couldn’t afford.

“Paint,” Jens repeated, smiling slightly, and Lucas shook his head.

“But, you know, I could go any time.”

“Clearly you can’t,” Jens said, nudging him easily with his elbow. “Otherwise, you would have already gone.” He jerked his head. “Let’s go check out some paint.”

Lucas couldn’t help smiling as Jens waited for him to show the way. Why the hell not?

*

Over the row of paints, Lucas found himself watching the back of Jens’ head as he took in some of the art hanging up on the wall. Jens was definitely attractive, far more than anyone else he’d seen this week, and he’d given Lucas more than a cursory glance already. Hell, he was here looking at paints with Lucas and hadn’t complained once about being bored, which was far ahead of what Jayden might have done if Lucas had dragged him in here.

“You must be a painter then,” Jens said, distracting Lucas from his thoughts as he turned to face him.

“Yeah,” Lucas said, shaking the thoughts from his head. “Studying art at Uni. Animation mostly, but I do traditional stuff when I have time.”

“Isn’t animation all computer-generated now?” Jens asked, watching Lucas from over the row.

“Still need character designers,” Lucas pointed out. “And there’s a lot you can do. Illustration, digital design, work at a gallery. I don’t know. I’m trying not to think about what happens after school ends.”

Jens smiled as he nodded. “I get that. I’ve still got two years, but I have no idea what I’m going to do once I finish Uni.”

“You go to school in Belgium?” Lucas asked, picking out a tube of paint but not really looking at the label as he turned it over.

“Antwerp,” Jens said. “You?”

“Utrecht.”

They weren’t that far from each other, Lucas caught himself thinking, but he put a stop to that immediately. After all, he’d just met Jens. If Kes were here, he would have made fun of Lucas for even thinking it. Summer was for flings, Kes said. Hooking up and then never seeing the person again.

“Funny we had to come all this way to meet each other,” Jens said with a laugh, reaching for the end of his shirt and tugging it down again. “And you had to get me the smallest shirt ever. Was that on purpose?”

“No,” Lucas said, looking away, feeling an unbidden blush on his cheeks. “It was what they had.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers.” Jens shrugged, though he did glance at Lucas. “But you like what you see, right?”

Lucas’ eyebrows went up at the bravery of Jens’ question, the complete boldness and lack of shame he had as he smirked at Lucas.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, come on,” Jens said easily, rounding the end of the row, tilting his head to the side. “I saw you checking me out in the shower.”

“You were totally naked,” Lucas reminded him, as if Jens would forget. “What was I supposed to look at?”

“I could think of a few things,” Jens said, sly, and Lucas felt his face heating up again as he set the paint back and tried to hide his smile.

“You’re oddly confident for a guy in pineapple shorts.”

“And who put me in those pineapple shorts?” Jens asked knowingly, stepping up to Lucas, a bit too close considering they were some of the few people in the store.

“That would be your friends who stole your clothes,” Lucas replied, glancing at Jens. “I was doing you a favor.”

“Not sure who benefited more,” Jens said, smiling as Lucas paused, shaking his head as he forced himself to look away from Jens.

“I guess we’ll find out,” Lucas replied, cheeky, and he knew Jens was grinning as he plucked a tube of paint from the display. “I’m going to get this one.”

*

“How can you like strawberry?” Jens asked, offended, as they sat on the bench, a soft breeze coming off the water, and Lucas licked the ice cream dripping down his cone.

“What’s wrong with strawberry ice cream?” he asked. “It’s refreshing and delicious and pink.” He shot Jens a challenging look in return and ignored his phone vibrating in his pocket. So Kes and Jayden finally noticed he was gone.

“It’s for five year old girls,” Jens pointed out.

Lucas hummed softly, eyeing the way Jens licked his own ice cream, tongue sliding slowly around the edge of the cone. “And how is double chocolate fudge any manlier?”

“It’s double,” Jens said, laughing when Lucas rolled his eyes. “Chocolaty-er.”

“Fudgy-er?” Lucas mocked, and Jens shoved his shoulder playfully.

“Shut up.”

Lucas smiled as he sat back on the bench, eating his ice cream. The day was growing later, and his phone buzzed again with a text. He probably should at least tell the guys he was okay, not kidnapped or bleeding out in an alley, but he just wanted to keep this to himself for a minute, keep Jens to himself.

“Do you think your friends are worried?” He couldn’t help asking, and Jens shrugged.

“They probably think I’m running around naked somewhere, probably think it’s hilarious.” He paused, taking another thoughtful lick of his ice cream. “But I’ll probably have to thank them.”

“For what?”

Lucas watched a kid run after a ball down the beach for a moment, waves rolling against the shore in the distance, glancing at Jens when he didn’t reply immediately.

Jens just smiled, licking ice cream drips off his fingers, and Lucas swallowed, looking away. He was pretty sure he knew for what.

“Are your friends worried about you?” Jens asked finally, and Lucas hummed, pulling out his phone reluctantly.

The screen was filled with texts and he groaned as he opened them up.

“They seem to think I’m mad since I’m not replying.”

Jens smiled. “Maybe you should tell them you’re taking some you-time.”

“I’ll just tell them I went back to the hotel to chill,” he said as he typed. He glanced up to find Jens watching him. “What?”

“Do you want to go chill alone? I kind of took over your whole afternoon.”

Lucas smiled at the momentary worry in Jens’ voice, as if Lucas hadn’t volunteered to hang out with him, hadn’t tripped over himself at the idea of spending time with a really hot guy. It was shallow, when he thought about it, as if hooking up was the only thing on his mind. But he was having a good time with Jens, even if they were just eating ice cream on a bench, avoiding their respective friends.

“No,” he said after a minute. “I’m good here.”

Jens nodded slowly, gazing out at the beach. “How would you feel about getting some real food?”

“If by real, you mean greasy and completely unhealthy, then yes,” Lucas said as Jens grinned.

“Oh, I like you,” he said simply, and Lucas couldn’t help but agree.

*

The sand was warm under Lucas’ toes as they wandered down the shoreline as the sun sank in the west, and he smiled as Jens tossed the last of his fries to a group of seagulls.

“You can’t tell me you’ve been here three days and you haven’t hooked up with a single person?” Jens asked doubtfully, and Lucas just shrugged.

“Have you?”

Jens opened his mouth but paused. “That’s not what I asked.”

“So you have?”

Jens shrugged inconsequentially. “I may have made out with a girl the first night. There was some bonfire thing and everyone was a bit drunk.”

“So you’ve already forgotten her name.” Lucas wasn’t surprised at all that Jens had hooked up right away. Just look at him.

“I don’t think I ever asked it,” Jens said, cringing slightly. “But don’t hold that against me. I won’t forget your name.”

Lucas felt the blush on his cheeks again as he looked away.

There were still plenty of people on the beach, couples watching the sunset, kids screaming as they chased each other. As they walked, Lucas couldn’t help but feel relaxed, like this was meant to happen, meant to meet Jens here, even if it was just for today, even if he never saw Jens again after this.

“So why haven’t you made out with anyone?” Jens asked as continued down the beach, not heading anywhere in particular, toes dragging in the sand, leaving footprints behind them. He glanced over as their arms brushed together, tingles crawling up his arm.

“I guess I’m just not that guy,” Lucas admitted, although he certainly had been back when he was trying to be straight. And he’d made out with his fair share of guys that hadn’t turned into anything more, but until today, hooking up with anyone he would only know for a few days had seemed pointless. “I’d rather know someone first. At least their name.” He smiled at Jens, and Jens laughed.

“Just rub it in.”

They were nearing the end of the beach as Jens paused, turning to face the ocean instead and sighing. For a moment, Lucas watched Jens instead of the waves, feeling the salty spray on his face, the air turning cooler as the sun sank below the horizon and the sky shifted from pink to orange to dusky blue.

“I do know your name,” Lucas said, quietly, so quiet he wasn’t sure Jens heard him as he gazed out at the water, a sailboat still visible in the distance.

He didn’t dare repeat himself in case he’d been reading this all wrong. After all, Jens had said he made out with girls. But he’d also noticed Lucas checking him out and hadn’t been offended. He’d seemed to enjoy the thought.

Jens took a deep breath as Lucas watched, licking his lips a second before turning, catching Lucas off-guard with how close he really was.

“Is that so… _Lucas_?” he asked, voice just as quiet as Lucas’, too close for Lucas to mistake it as anything else, and he caught a hint of Jens’ smile just before Jens leaned in and kissed him.

Ridiculously romantic, Kes would have called it, stupid and sappy and perfect as Lucas rose on his toes to slide his arms around Jens’ shoulders, tilt his head to the side and part his lips for Jens’ tongue, bury his hands in Jens’ soft hair and exhale slowly as warmth spread through his body, emanating from where Jens’ hands gentle around his waist.

Time stopped for a moment, and Lucas could only feel the soft breeze swirling around them, the warmth of Jens’ chest pressed against his, the pressure of his lips, slide of his tongue, a shiver down his spine as Jens’ hand slid up his back.

Twilight fell around them, the sky turning inky blue, lights on the shops winking in the distance down the beach, but Lucas didn’t care. He just cared that Jens kept on kissing him, lips soft and pliant, meeting his over and over again as his heart thudded in his chest. His hands fell to Jens’ neck while Jens’ rested gently against his ribcage, holding him close, not letting go.

His lips were red and sore when they finally parted, Jens’ forehead resting against his as he grinned.

“Have you ever gone skinny dipping?” Jens asked, surprising Lucas somehow, and Lucas opened his eyes, biting his bottom lip as he shook his head.

“No.”

Jens nodded at his response, mouth too close to Lucas’, teasing, and Lucas wanted so badly to kiss him again, to feel Jens against him, even though he’d never left.

“Now’s your chance to get me out of these pineapple shorts,” he murmured, and Lucas smiled. 

“But I’ve already seen you out of them.”

Jens rolled his eyes as though Lucas was being annoying on purpose, hands still firmly on his ribcage. “Just get naked already,” he said, stepping away from Lucas and peeling off his shirt, dropping it pointedly on the sand.

It was stupid, Lucas thought, completely and utterly stupid, but he couldn’t help grinning as Jens jerked down the zipper to his shorts and waited for Lucas to do the same.

“You’re an idiot,” Lucas just said, pulling off his shirt and tossing his sandals down.

“An idiot who’s getting you naked,” Jens said as he shoved off his shorts and took off for the water. Cursing, Lucas didn’t even look around to see if anyone was nearby. As quickly as he could, he stepped out of his shorts and ran for the water, crashing in with a shriek.

“Fuck, it’s cold!” he said as Jens laughed at him.

“It’s the North Sea. What did you expect?”

Lucas could only glare, shivering as Jens swam over to him, reaching up to push his damp curls aside, moonlight reflecting off the water. “You owe me for this.”

“Then let me repay you,” Jens said easily, pulling Lucas to him through the water, firm hands on his neck, a smirk on his face that Lucas kissed right off, the cold vanishing for just a second as Jens held him tight, a satisfied hum against his lips when Jens licked into his mouth.

“Still cold,” Lucas mumbled against Jens’ lips, and he felt Jens smile.

“Come on, let’s get you warmed up,” he said, taking Lucas’ hand and leading him back to the shore. 

Out of the water, Lucas smiled at Jens as they made their way back to their pile of clothes, safe and untouched. He pulled on his shorts as Jens did the same, maybe allowing himself to take a little peek this time, and he settled in next to Jens as he sat down, gazing out at the water.

“How much longer are you in town?” Jens asked after a moment, pulling his knees up to his chin.

Lucas shrugged, glancing over. “Couple days.”

He hadn’t allowed himself to think about tomorrow. Tomorrow, everything would go back to normal. He’d go with Kes and Jayden to the beach to check out hot girls, spend the night drinking or at a bar, and in a couple days, he would go back home, back to classes and his mom and everything else in Utrecht.

“Assuming I get my clothes back,” Jens said slowly, “maybe we could hang out again.”

“Jens,” Lucas said, looking away, and he felt Jens’ gaze on the back of his neck.

“Unless you don’t want to. Which is totally cool.”

“No,” Lucas said, taking a breath. He looked up. “I mean, I don’t know. It’s just, we hang out for a couple days and then I never see you again?”

Jens frowned slightly, tapping his knee with his finger. “I don’t know. I thought we were having fun.”

“We are,” Lucas agreed, licking his lips. “I just don’t want to start something we can’t finish.”

For a moment, Jens didn’t reply, and Lucas grimaced as he looked away.

He could handle this like it was. One amazing day. One night with a great guy. But if it was more, if it was tomorrow and the next day and then he had to go home and pretend he’d never met Jens, he wasn’t sure he could do it.

“But how do you know what it is if you don’t try?” Jens asked finally. “We could spend the next couple days together and you could find out I’m a total idiot. And if we hadn’t spent that time together, you might go off with a romanticized version of me in your head, and that would be bad. You would just pine after me, and we can’t have that.”

Lucas found himself smiling at that. “Is that your backwards way of trying to get me to hang out with you more?”

Jens paused. “Depends. Did it work?”

Shaking his head, Lucas couldn’t stop his smile. It was ridiculous. Ridiculous and adorable and completely stupid.

“We shouldn’t do this,” he said, but Jens leaned in closer.

“I think we should,” he said simply, thumb stroking over Lucas’ cheek, and it was something in Jens’ gaze, so sincere, so bright and cheery and easygoing that just made Lucas want to agree.

Sighing, he leaned into Jens’ touch for a second. “The guys always sleep late,” he said finally, watching the question in Jens’ eyes. “Tomorrow, we could get breakfast. There’s a place I walk by every morning that has these huge pancakes. They look amazing.”

Jens’ face broke into a smile as he nodded. “That sounds incredible.”

Maybe it was a mistake, Lucas thought as he pulled out his phone to get Jens’ number, but Jens was right. If they didn’t try, they’d never know.

“I’ll text you when I get my phone back,” Jens said as Lucas sent him an emoji.

Lucas smiled, tucking his phone away, leaning into Jens. “You better. This is all your fault, you know.”

“Actually, it’s my friends’ fault,” Jens said, but Lucas didn’t care, pulling him into a kiss and grinning as Jens kissed him back. It hadn’t been the day he’d expected, but it had definitely been better.

*

“Where the hell have you been?” Kes demanded as Lucas stepped into the hotel room to find both him and Jayden sprawled on the bed, the TV on some terrible movie.

“Nowhere,” Lucas said, brushing sand off his legs as he headed for the bathroom. He didn’t see the glance Kes and Jayden exchanged, but he heard them clamber off the bed to follow him.

“You weren’t here when we got back,” Kes said, lingering in the doorway with Jayden peering over his shoulder as Lucas turned on the shower. “And you’re covered in sand. Which you hate.”

Lucas just smiled as he shrugged. “Just went out.”

Jayden’s eyes narrowed. “You’re unusually chipper considering how annoyed you were earlier.”

“I’m fine,” Lucas assured them, giving Kes a shove out the doorway. “I’m trying to take a shower, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh my God,” Jayden said as Lucas got them both out the door. “You hooked up with someone!”

Lucas didn’t reply, though, shutting the door in their faces and grinning to himself as he sighed and slumped happily against the door.

*

FIN.


End file.
